Saturday, March 26, 2011

Recently, I've searched and watched several anime series adapted from Light Novels.

The story is about a cat alien who visits Earth, for the purpose of learning its cultures, and setting up diplomatic relations. But she gets into all sorts of troubles, targeted by various groups with different objectives.

I personally don't really like this series. It would have made more sense to me, if the cat aliens have some sort of device, such as their bells, that allowed them to speak the same language. Coincidentally having the exact same language of inhabitants of a different world, and coincidentally landing in Japan, is something ludicrous.

To be honest, it doesn't do very well in the respective genres. If you consider an Alien Sci-fi genre, there's nothing outstanding about it. Comedy-wise, there are some parts which are really funny, but it makes up only a small minority. If you consider it as one of those Japanese Harem genre that involves one guy many girls, it doesn't do particularly well either. As for Ecchi anime, well, there is some nudity inside, but again, not very much either. That being said, I don't really know which genre this can be classified as.

The end makes it seem like there's a continuation. But somehow, I'm not particularly looking forward to it.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

A lot of anime that we watch, mostly originated from Mangas. Examples include the classic Doraemon. Those that don't originate from Mangas, may come from other story sources, such as games (Fate Stay Night), light novels (Bakemonogatari), or purely original (Gundam Seed.)

Anyway, what I am going to talk about, is how some of these adaptations, particularly those from Manga, differ from their anime counterparts. A lot of times, when an anime is created, the contents inside are inconsistent with the original story, sometimes to great extents. In a way, you could say that they are not canon - not true to the original storyline.

Obviously, it is a great honor for an author, to have his/her work adapted to an anime. But I can't understand why these authors would agree to have their works altered in such a way, until it doesn't even resemble what they first did? Personally, if I am an author of a story, I wouldn't change the contents inside, due to someone's request, simply because he dislikes it. More often that not, some of these changes were greatly unnecessary, and leaving it as it was, would have done better justice than changing the original work. In short, not always logical or reasonable. It is hard for me to fathom why these authors would agree to these changes.

Anyway, here, I will list down some of the animes that I have watched, and how much they differ from the original work. You decide if these changes were necessary. If you think you can add to the list, please do so.

Skip BeatI followed the manga and anime quite closely. One of the biggest difference is how they completely removed Kanae's story arc. The entire section, worth nearly 3/4 of one volume, was omitted.

Other significant changes, include changing that Mimori did not know Kyouko. Also, the part where Saionji's cronies trying to sabotage Kanae, was greatly shortened, which was a shame, since that is one of the funniest parts in the earlier chapters. Although not specifically clear in the final chapter, apparently, they removed the part where Kyouko shows up as Bo in a duck suit as well. Other minor changes include Kyouko getting lost after her conversation with Ren as Bo, or changing her middle finger into a thumbs down. (It's actually understandable in a way.)

Some of these changes, are particularly redundant, especially the Mimori part. As I watched the anime, I personally found some of the metaphorical parts needlessly exaggerated, to the point where it was somewhat annoying. In the Manga, these metaphorical parts (such as the part where Kyouko imagines Ren and Shou on their knees), where drawn in one picture with only a few lines, and it wasn't "in-your-face". I personally did not like the anime's annoying exaggerations.

Loki Matantei RagnarokI watched the anime complete, and only a few chapters of the manga. But I can say this much, it will be a much easier effort to list out the similarities, then find the differences. If I were the author, I would be like, "WTF? Is this my story?"

The anime seems to grossly focus on the comedy etc. The manga, I can say it is darker, and more bloody. If they wanted comedy, this shouldn't have been the top choice for adaptation.

Zoids Chaotic Century / Guardian ForceI watched the entire series, and read only the first book. In Japan, they are simply known as Zoids Anime, part 1 and 2.

Again, apart from using the same characters and settings, NOTHING is similar between the anime and manga.

I dare say that for this, I loved the anime many times more than the Manga. I didn't like the Manga at all, but I really love the anime series.

Samurai Deeper KyoAgain, as I would call it, another WTF series. There's really very little similarities between the Anime and Manga. I watched the entire anime, and only a few chapters from the manga, and I was like, "What the hell?"

In the manga, there were none of these Kenyos, and there's Botenmaru.

In the anime, there's no such person as Botenmaru, and the storyline extends way, way further than the anime. Last episode was as confusing as hell, I recall.

To be perfectly honest, I prefer the drawn anime version of Kyo. The manga version of Kyo, the way he grins, looks like a naughty boy or pervert smile to me. The anime version, that bloodthirsty, diabolical smile looks more real, has more impact.

Love HinaI read the whole manga for these series, and watched only a few episodes. In the Manga, there was no rich handsome guy chasing after Naru, and there were no freaky old men. I don't know why the hell they threw these inside the anime.

To be honest, the manga is very funny, but the anime is agonizing to watch. The only humor within the anime itself, seems to centralize everything on having Keitaro getting the crap beaten out of. The comedy that was in the Manga, is really lost. One of the reasons why I don't feel like reading or watching Negima.

TrigunOnly read a few chapters, but watched the whole anime. Much of the whole story remains intact. I noticed the anime did not follow the same order as the events in the Manga, though. For parts of the story in the manga, where the 2 girls didn't appear, they were included in the anime version of those parts.

MonsterA series that I hated. I compared the endings and beginnings of the anime and manga. They all matched. Possibly one of the rare true-to-manga anime series. Even the unique (but less-than-pretty) art style was kept.

Shining Tears X WindAnime adapted from the game Shining Wind, it focusses on Souma's storyline, rather than Kiriya's. I watched anime and completed the game.

Overall plot remains the same as the PS2 game, but there are still some very significant changes. In the game, Souma is to be executed by burning, but he is saved by Zero. Later, Shumari tries to escape, but he is stopped and killed by Killrain. In the anime, a cannon blast from Baelgard's ship killed Shumari, but Souma is saved by Zero. All shortened to one single event. In the game, Souma was not present in a few events, but the anime threw him and his party inside some of them. Examples include Lassi finding the secret entrance, Souma and group was added in that scene in the Anime. Several events were also shortened. In the game, there were a few series of events or battles before something happened, but the anime cut most of the unimportant ones out. In the scene where Kiriya and Xecty fell in the crevasse, in the game, he pulled out her Shinken. This did not happen in the anime.

The game never mentioned Traihart's name as Saionji, it was in the anime only. The anime also never showed Kiriya pulling anyone's normal Shinken except for Shiina and Kureha.

Neo Angelique AbyssI played the game and watched both seasons of the anime. In the game, when Ereboros awakens, the game is already near the end. In the anime, it's only the end of season 1. Season 2, you could say follows an almost entirely original storyline. New characters were added in the anime, such as Roche, Mathias, and Jet. Mathias did not exist in the game, and Rene was already the leader.

Personally, although I don't dislike the game, I think I prefer the anime storyline.

Full Metal Alchemist2 anime series have been released for this manga. Rather than a continuation, the second series is a different version of the same story.

I watched the whole of the 1st series and movie for it. From the reports, the anime series differ from the manga halfway through, following a different plot. This is supposedly due to the request from the author herself.

(The movie for the anime, in a way, wasn't consistent with actual historical events. :P )

Second series, Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, is supposed to follow the manga closer. But I watched the first episode, and it wasn't about Lior. This is supposed to be closer to the manga? 0_o

Anyway, although I haven't watched much of the 2nd series, I have to say I like the 1st series very much. It is still one of my most favorites.

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Right now, these are all the series I can think of at the top of my head. If you have any you can add to this list, or have something to say, please do.

Anyway, I'm trying to highlight that most anime series do not follow the manga storyline very closely. Sometimes, it's understandable, but more often than not, the change is unnecessary. Personally, as a fan, I do not like adaptations that do not follow the original storyline well. (Be they manga-to-anime, or anime-to-manga adaptations.) Sometimes, the creators of that anime or manga adaptation of the originals, they make changes that they see fit, without considering whether fans or viewers appreciate these changes.

Personally, from my own standpoint, if I were to create a story, and someone else takes it and change it in any way he likes, I would consider that disrespectful. I do not know why authors of these works would agree to have their work altered in such ways. I'm pretty sure fans of these respective series, don't particularly approve of these changes either.

I read the first 2 books of Harry Potter. I watched the 2 movies, and from what I know, most of the plot remains intact. If I recall right, some unimportant events were removed, but most of the plot remain true to the book. I believe that's the way it should be done.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Sai Akuto, a seemingly normal student, enters a magic academy with the hopes of becoming a high priest one day. But when he is predicted to be the next Demon King, his whole life turns upside down.

I personally think the storyline is very interesting. But perhaps too much is focused on the ecchi parts etc. Towards the end, it seemed rushed, as well as confusing. Very little is explained of God, and purpose of Maou. There was also one confusing part, it was as if they had control over the monsters, yet did nothing to stop them from rampaging the school or attacking the people. I can't even tell which side the monsters were on. Very little is explained about Boichiro as well.

I also read the manga adaptation, and I was surprised at how different it was from the anime. Only the characters and setting remain the same. The plot itself, was almost completely different. Apart from Sai entering the school, none of the events from the anime or the manga can relate to each other. Not having read the light novel series, it's not possible for me to tell which is closer to the original.

Anime adaptations often tend to deviate from original storyline by large proportions. They tend to remove things that were there, or add things that weren't. I don't know why, and I don't know why the authors of those series agree to those changes either.

Unfortunately, for the specials, no single sub group did all the specials. 1 group did some, another group did others. Neither of the groups were willing to complete the whole specials. I personally prefer to be consistent, and keep all from one sub group. But this is it, and no other groups did it. I personally don't like it when sub groups choose to do only a select few episodes rather than the whole thing.

It's a romance genre manga, pretty short, at 4 volumes. Even though you can call it a Shoujou manga, I'm pretty sure it is published in GanGan comics (shounen manga). The storyline is a little bit dark, not like the usual romance novels you see. The female lead is a victim of rape.

For those interested, you can read in on Mangareader or Mangafox.http://www.mangareader.net/172/bitter-virgin.html

Monday, March 14, 2011

I was watching Bakemonogatari. Then I realized, Shinobu doesn't wear underwear, she uses a band-aid. 0_o This screenshot was taken from the anime itself.

The story is about a seemingly normal guy, who turned back after becoming a vampire, but still kept his regenerative abilities. One day, he meets a girl who has a problem of having no weight, and he tries to help her. After that, he helps others with encounters of the supernatural.

The title itself is a word play of Bakemono and monogatari. Adapted from a light novel series, you can easily tell that the author is fond of puns, and word plays.

This anime uses an abstract way of telling the story. It uses a series of flashing signs, photographs and other artworks inside. To be honest, it's irritating. They probably also dragged a story which could have been told in a shorter timeline. Too much time is spent on off-topic conversations. It's a little bit ecchi in the sense that it is largely suggestive, there's very little nudity. There's also quite a number of gory scenes.

I have cleaned up all the pages manually, and corrected and edited any mistakes. If you have already read previous versions before, please read it again. More corrections have been made in 2.1.

This release has been my best work so far. It's almost as good as HQ. Please read it.

(Post reviews in the Chapter 172 Scanlation entry below.)

I am sick of these people who upload to other manga sites but don't bother to update them. Nevermind the fact that they didn't bother to ask for my permission, but they never bothered to check if there is an update, and leave the old ones up there like forever as well. They don't ask me for permission before uploading to other places, and they don't bother to update the content there.

Anyway, basically, I don't get everything right the first time. Sometimes, there's a few mistakes here and there. But the important thing is, I correct it. My first focus is time, of course I won't get everything right the first time. So if you read my works on Mangareader etc, it won't be the most accurate.

Sometimes, I piss people off without intentionally wishing to do so, and it causes them to leave. Sometimes, I don't even know that I pissed them off. :( Sometimes, I say things I don't really mean, like I was having a bad day, I worded it poorly, or I say something you don't like without knowing. I mean, sometimes a "No, thank you", turns into an "Are you crazy!?" when it comes out of my mouth, lol.

Anyway, even if you're not among the people I mentioned, if you have left, I hope you can come back. Sometimes I just have this natural ability to piss people off without even trying, and I hope you don't leave because of that.

Monday, March 07, 2011

Okay, first off, I'll like to offer my views on some of the more confusing parts of the plot, and ask you guys for your opinion.

First topic, Kyouko's reaction. On page 24, when Ren says Kyouko is doing something that would bring shame to LME, Kyouko's reaction is like, "OH MY GOD!! He knows!!" But then Ren talks about her behavior with Kijima, and she was like, "Oh, so that's what you were talking about." On page 26, she says his anger doesn't seem to be about that "delicate subject". Question is, what is this delicate subject that will make her so scared, even more than how she behaved with Kijima? I really have no idea, but Kyouko seems to be quite concerned if Ren knows about it. Does anyone have any ideas what this "delicate subject" is?

Next topic, on page 20, Kyouko sense that Ren wasn't giving his fake gentleman smile. On page 22, she sensed that Ren wasn't angry either. Yet, on page 2-3, she could sense his anger quite clearly. The question is why?

My guess, is that Ren figured that Kyouko's behavior towards Kijima, is more likely to be out of ignorance of her conduct and failure to recognize its consequences, rather than a willful act despite knowing what it results in. He probably also guessed that Kijima was the one leading her on. He's right about these, of course. On page 25, he tells her that he knows that she wasn't aware of her own actions.

The whole time in the party, despite Ren's nonchalant and gallant display, he was keeping an eye on Kyouko, and listening to her the whole time. He probably was angry. Until the part where Kyouko refuses Kijima, saying she must protect her purity. By that time, Ren probably figured, "at least she still has some self-control", and thus, wasn't so angry. When Kijima ask her who did she keep this vow to, Ren figured it was time for him to step in. (And did you see the look on her face? XD ) Anyway, that's the reason why I think Ren wasn't angry. What do you think?

And next, I'll like to offer my own opinions after hearing other people's opinions.

A lot of people have been saying that Ren acted like a manipulative jerk here, and he has no right to be telling Kyouko what to do.

I quite disagree with that. Is he manipulative? Yes. Is he a jerk? No. To be honest, I'll take an over-concerned Ren over an indifferent Ren any day. Even if we don't take into consideration of Ren's personal relation with Kyouko, Ren is still Kyouko's senior and superior. As his senior, he has every right to be telling her off should he find her behavior to be inappropriate, especially if it concerns the reputation of the company itself.

When you see your female friend acting frivolously with a stranger, and spending his money, you'll be tempted to tell her to be careful, would you not? Furthermore, Ren is more than just that. And he's her senior, who is supposed to guide her along. So, he has every right to do what he did, and say what he said.

Granted, it's rather cowardly of him to give her a lecture, while using the company and the president as a pretext and excuse. But given the situation, I think it's the best he could have done, considering he couldn't just tell her, "I'm telling you to stop because I love you too much!" So, yeah, he had no choice but to use the president as his excuse. :P

Next on the subject. People have been saying that Ren has been digging his own grave, and shooting himself in the foot, when he lectures her, not to spend a man's money, not to allow him to touch your shoulders or waist, not to let your guard down, and other things, etc. Perhaps he stepped in it this time, but perhaps, he didn't.

Remember that time after Shou kissed her, Ren gives her a very firm warning not to let it happen a second time? What happens later, is that he himself, gives her a light kiss on the cheek. Of course, he later had to trivialize it, letting her believe it is nothing more than a gesture of courtesy, yadah yadah, because she was so distraught over it, yadah yadah. But the point is, those rules, do not apply to him.

Ren is the exception to the "other men" rules. And he has exclusive rights. By giving her these ideas, she will be guarded against OTHER men. This greatly reduces the chances that she will be snatched up by someone else, thus leaving her all to himself. :) Or so he thinks at least....

The fact that Kyouko returned this line at him, "you want something from me?", means that she is aware that he is treating her, the same way which he doesn't want the other men to treat her. Basically, yes, Ren's little scheme may have backfired somehow....

Oh, on a related note, have you guys noticed this? On page 27, Kyouko is very apologetic, and Ren is smiling. Basically, he was thinking, "I have won now! I have you right where I want!" So, what he does next is set the terms of her surrender. :) "In exchange for not ratting you out to the boss, next time you will talk to me regarding everything!" Basically, he got her right where he wants her, and he almost got what he wanted! But he wasn't counting on Kyouko talking back, and making a counter-attack. Lol. Has anyone else noticed this? XD

I do have one question though. What was so special in Ren's "you will tell me everything" request, that she chose to react after that? She didn't say what was so special about that line. She didn't say anything like, "Is he trying to control me?" She just act surprised towards what he said, that's all.

The moment Ren made that request, Kyouko is stunned. What was so special or dangerous about that request?

And this is my prediction.

Ren is surprised by Kyouko's question. He is stunned for a while. Then he gives a shiny smile, and asks, "Whatever do you mean?"

Kyouko is taken aback by the smile, but presses on her attack. "But Tsuruga-san, you have been helping me a lot too. And now, you want me to report everything directly to you too. And you always hold my shoulders and waist too. Don't tell me, you want something from me too?"

Ren's smile turns into an angry stare. "I was actually believing that you have realized your mistakes, and you would watch yourself more carefully in future. But apparently, it seems you haven't learned your lesson yet."

The next pages then focus on close ups of Ren's angry face, and Kyouko's frightened reaction.

What happens next you ask? Well, what happens is that they jump ahead what happens immediately, and goes over to the part where they each have their interviews, and each of them gets a flashback/recollection of what happened in that conversation.